House Fornax Senate
The House Fornax Senate is the unicameral legislature of House Fornax. It meets in the Koissi Orchestrum, on the Mimisbrunnr Promenade, a central location on Aeternus' Chain, Maja. It’s full name is the Ancient and Venerable Assembly of the Elders of House Fornax, Lords Regent of Maja and the Associated and Numerous Territories of its Nobility Therein, in the Combined Interests of House Fornax and the Imperial Crown, Governed and Dictated by the Most Knowledgeable Senate. The Senate is responsible for the passing of all laws on Maja and other House Fornax controlled territories, as well as approving budgets, and all other matters of state. The Senate is an oligarchy of up to 600 representatives taken from the noble families of the house. Membership to the Senate is by appointment and there is no term limit; appointments last until death, retirement or removal. Membership Organisation The senate is currently capped at 600 members, with that number evenly divided between the “Dynastic Seats” and “Virtue Seats”. Dynastic seats are hereditary and are granted to the most prominent 300 noble households in House Fornax, as defined in the Senate Reorganisation Act. Virtue seats may be granted to nobles of any family, and are used to provide greater diversity in the senate, by awarding them to owners of significant businesses, prominent scientists, etc. In practice, these virtue seats lead to many of the most prominent families having multiple senators. Qualifications There are various requirements that are required to be met to sit in the Senate. Only adult nobles may be senators. A candidate must be of House Fornax, however, you do not have to be born into the house (e.g., you may be Fornax by marriage). Candidates must further be “in good standing” as nobles, which is generally understood as a requirement to hold land on Aeternus’ Chain or Maja proper, and to not be the subject of a bankruptcy procedure, nor any other serious criminal conviction. Appointments New senators are selected only on the retirement, death, impeachment, or otherwise removal of existing senators. In the case of a dynastic seat, a retiring senator is allowed to nominate their successor. Similarly, they may nominate one in their will in case of death. In these cases, the vote on approving the new senator is held by the entire senate, and is usually seen as a formality. In the event the vote does fail, the head of the family may put forth alternative candidates until the senate is satisfied. For virtue seats, the appointment process is controlled by the Senate Integrity Committee. Senators may put forth candidates they feel are worthy from any profession or noble family. The Committee chooses from amongst these, weighing up the gaps in the Senate’s expertise, and the candidates temperament, to decide which will be taken to the next stage: the Kamino Conclave. At the start of each Senate term, the committee convenes a Kamino Conclave. During the Conclave, they committee holds interviews of the candidates in front of the senate, in which they may be called to answer any question about themselves, their business, or their family as it pertains to their ability to be a senator. The candidates are then sequestered while the senate deliberates and votes. Upon acceptance into the Senate, a new senator is required to take an oath and their pin is forged. Removal from the Senate Under normal circumstances, a Senator is expected to serve until death or retirement, however, sometimes it is necessary to remove a sitting Senator from their seat. If a Dynastic Senator is incapacitated and unable to perform their duties, their family might petition for a regent to take their place until they are able to perform them again. This is treated in the same way as succession, except that the Regent must leave when the Senator returns. Expulsion from the senate is automatic for serious criminal offenses, such as treason, as well as others defined under the Senate Reorganisation Act. Similarly, you cannot remain a senator if you lose your nobility, are excommunicated, or leave House Fornax. There will be no option for an appeal. Other suspensions and expulsions are subject to a hearing by the Senate Integrity Committee, and may occur as a result of losing “good standing” as a noble, e.g., through a minor criminal offense or bankruptcy, sever breaches of Senate rules, or a vote of the Senate for “Formal Censure”. Officers Member Officials The Orafex of the Senate presides over debates in the senate. They determine which members are allowed to speak, which debates are timetabled, and announces the results of votes. The Orafex is also responsible for ensuring proper conduct in debates, enforcing senate procedure and good behaviour through their officers. The Orafex does not normally take part in debates or vote, although they cast tie-breaking votes. The current Orafex is Domina-Dux Fornax Naupegus Ludova. When the Orafex is unavailable, their position is deputised to one of several Orafex Secundi. These senators are also expected to remain neutral, although are allowed to maintain committee chairships. The Praesidius is not a separately appointed position, but rather the chair of the Adjudications Committee. In this role, they function as Chief Justice and head auditor of the budget, and wield tremendous authority in the Senate. They come second in the official list of precedence, behind the Orafex, but ahead of the Orafex Secundi. Non Member Officials The official records of the senate and the senate library are overseen by a large number of Augurs Historia and Publica. Chief amongst these is the Augur Stabilis, who also serves as the Senate parliamentarian, ensuring that senate procedure is followed, and adjudicating rule disputes. They are attended to by the Enviscar, who is responsible for keeping Senate record complete, and is charged with overseeing the transcription of laws onto steel plates. Senate security is handled by a team of Decani, overseen by the Censor. The Censor is responsible for the day to day order of the Senate, and has authority to remove and detain unruly senators. A Censor must have completed military service to be eligible. The Ignex Vestal is the master of traditions and ceremonies. They are responsible for lighting the senate crucible each day, as well as many other ceremonial duties such as the swearing in of new senators. They are easily recognised by their ceremonial thawb. The Primat of the senate is always the High Priest of the Angelus Fabrica, a Cathedral near to the Koissi Orchestrum on the Mímisbrunnr Promenade. The Primat oversees the spiritual needs of the senators, and starts off the senate each day with a prayer. All senior senate officials are recommended for a vote to the Senate by the Integrity Committee, although in practice the Orafex has much sway on who is appointed, as it is to them that the Augur Stabilis, Censor, and Vestarch are answerable. Senatorial Insignia Seal of the Orafex The Seal of the Orafex is the personal seal of the Orafex of the House Fornax Senate. It is used on official senate correspondence to indicate the document has been given assent by the senate. The design of the seal goes back to the Orafex Fornax Calces Eudoxia, who adopted their families personal heraldry as that of the office. It consists of a half cog in the background, rotated to fill the lower left half, with a gold circle in the foreground. The half cog symbolises the industrial might of House Fornax, while the gold circle symbolises wealth and unity. Senate pins To indicate their status, senators are given a special circular pin bearing the half-cog insignia of the senate. These pins function in tandem with their signet rings as identification, particularly during the recording of votes, and allow them access to restricted areas in the Senate building. The Senate pins are forged in the Senate itself when a new senator is appointed, and are likewise destroyed in the same forge when a senator is removed. As such, there are only as many pins as active senators. Although the pin design is minimalist, a certain amount of customisation is encouraged, although any such modifications should be confined to the non-cog half of the pin. Departments & Committees The Majan senate uses committees for many purposes, particularly for the drafting and review of legislation and hearing testimony from non-Senators. Like appointment to the Senate itself, all committee appointments are suggested through the Senate Integrity Committee, but voted on by the entire Senate. It is common for the Senate Integrity Committee to defer suggestions to the committee in question, but they are not obliged to do so. Committees vary in size and composition according to their purpose. Most of the permanent committees have extensive staffing, and are distinguished by the use of terms like “Department” or “Bureau” in their names. Some important committees have upwards of 20 members, but special purpose committees, or low-prestige concerns like the Bureau of Serf Affairs, may as little as five members. Committees always have an odd number of members to allow the chair of the committee to break ties. Senators are not limited to sitting on one committee, with senior Senators, such as those on the Integrity Committee, usually having multiple responsibilities. A listing of Senate committees can be found here. Factions While the Senate Constitution does not recognise any party structure, in practice, most senators are aligned with ideological groups as a way to exert greater influence outside the committee rooms. Maja Prima Maja Prima forms the largest political grouping in the senate, and has been since shortly after the Scream. Maja Prima takes a “Maja First” approach to politics, steering Fornax away from the political centre stage. Their policies favour industrialists, and pursue an aggressive education agenda to provide Maja with a skilled labour force. Many members of Maja Prima come from virtue seats, and view ensuring their economic might as a better guarantor of power than their blood. They have been suspicious of ACRE’s industrial dominance, and believe that Fornax should have their responsibilities instead. Tags: isolationist, materialist, egalitarian The Imperialists The Imperialists form the second largest grouping, although they were dominant prior to the Blood Eagle. The Imperialists strongly disagree with the current structure of the empire, believing that Houses have too much authority over their own affairs. Imperialist would describe their ideology as follows: The Empire is House Fornax is the Empire, the Emperox is the only true authority, and that the nobility are merely their regents and lieutenants. In practice, however, they will happily pass laws that serve their own interests, and have pushed for strengthening the navy after the War on the Artificials. The majority of Imperialists have Dynastic seats, and trace their lineage back through hundreds of years. They often use a gold throne on a purple background as a symbol. Tags: interventionist, militaristic, authoritarian Minor Parties Although Maja Prima and the Imperialists form the main voting blocs, many senators are unaligned, or belong to one of the smaller factions. Usually minor parties consist of senators in Dynastic seats, as it can be hard for them to exert influence on the nomination process. Helligists The Helligists are a small group of staunchly religious senators. Often seen as little more than a mouthpiece for the High Church, the Helligists periodically abstain from votes which they view as too materialistic. For a number of decades, the Helligists have pushed legislation to restrict the growth of the Church of Humanity, Repentant on Maja, although this rarely makes it out of committee stages. Tags: spiritualist, isolationist, authoritarian, pacifist Romdvergar Romdvergar is a techno-progressivist faction, usually viewed as a splinter group of Maja Prima. Unlike Maja Prima, Romdvergar generally looks beyond Maja to see how best House Fornax can wield influence and better the empire. Romdvergar has ties to various House Triangulum research groups, and is pursuing a long-term goal of make out-of-sector travel as easy as in-sector travel. Tags: egalitarian, materialist, expansionist Firebrands The Firebrands are an offshoot of the Imperialists that advocate for aggressive military intervention around the sector. Small, but influential, the Firebrands have a number of supporters in the Admiralty, and the backing of the current Orafex. The first incarnation of the Firebrands came into being prior to Fornax entering the War on the Artificials. The Imperialist faction was advocating staying out of the conflict believing that it was not Fornax’s place to challenge the Emperox, however, some radicals pushed for intervention arguing that the throne is more important than the emperox. These members were often stereotyped as crazy by Imperialists, a reputation which has remained to this day. The term “Firebrand” was originally used as a slur, but has now been adopted as a badge of honour by its members. Tags: Fanatical, Militarist, Authoritarian Category:House Fornax Category:Government